1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an operating device connected to an operation controller of an NC machine tool for inputting an operation signal to the operation controller.
2. Background of the Disclosure
An NC machine tool generally has a machining mechanism performing operations for machining a workpiece and an operation controller controlling the operations of the machining mechanism. For example, in the case of a lathe, the machining mechanism includes a spindle holding and rotating the workpiece and a driving mechanism for the spindle, a tool rest holding a tool, a feed mechanism moving the tool rest in a predetermined axial direction, and other components, and in the case of a machining center, the machining mechanism includes a table holding the workpiece, a spindle holding a tool, a driving mechanism for the spindle, a feed mechanism moving the table and the spindle relative to each other in predetermined axial directions, and other components. Further, the operation controller includes a numerical control unit for numerically controlling the machining mechanism.
Further, the NC machine tool is normally provided with an operating device (so-called “operation panel”), which allows an operator to input an operation signal into the operation controller to operate the machining mechanism or the like. This operating device generally has a display unit for displaying the status of the machining mechanism and various machining information on a screen and an operation unit having operation keys for inputting an operation signal to the operation controller, and in recent years, some of such operating devices have a configuration in which the display unit comprises a touch panel having a so-called man-machine interface function, operation keys as soft keys are displayed on this touch panel, and when the operation keys are pressed down by the operator, the corresponding operation signals are input into the operation controller.
As one of such an operating device using a touch panel as its display unit, there has conventionally been an operating device as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-166335. This operating device has a configuration in which: a button for switching to an MDI mode is displayed on the touch panel; when this button is pressed down to switch to the MDI mode, tool selection buttons for tool change are displayed on the touch panel; and when the operator presses down a desired tool selection button and also presses down a start button, a signal for changing the tool to the selected tool is transmitted to the operation controller.
According to this operating device, the operator can change the tool to his intended one simply by pressing down a desired tool selection button based on information displayed on the touch panel after switching to the MDI mode, which makes it unnecessary to perform operations for tool change such as an operation for checking a tool pot (tool pot of a tool magazine) to which the target tool is attached and an operation for inputting an NC program for tool change, thereby improving the operability.
By the way, in the above-described operating device using a touch panel, normally, a display area on the touch panel has at least two areas set therein: an area in which a mode switching screen for switching between an automatic operation mode and a manual operation mode is displayed, and an area in which an operation screen for performing operations in each of the operation modes is displayed.
Further, the automatic operation mode is subdivided into a plurality of modes, such as a memory operation mode (operation using an NC program stored in a memory), an MDI operation mode (operation performed by manually inputting an NC program), and the like, and in the same manner, the manual operation mode is also subdivided into a plurality of modes, such as a jog feed mode, a zero return mode, and the like. Further, the mode switching screen having selection keys for selecting the modes arranged therein is displayed in the mode switching screen display area and the operation screen having operation keys set for each of the modes arranged therein is displayed in the operation screen display area.
For each of the above-mentioned modes, one or more operation screens are set and an initial operation screen (default screen) which is to be initially displayed when the mode is selected is set. When an appropriate mode is selected on the mode switching screen and the mode is switched to the mode, the initial operation screen of the corresponding mode is displayed in the operation screen display area.
Further, the screen displayed in the operation screen display area can be switched by an appropriate method, for example, pressing down a page switching key or performing a so-called flick operation (the operator slides his finger in contact with the screen to switch or slide the displayed screen). Further, there is also an operating device having a configuration in which, regardless of the selected mode, an operation screen of another mode can be displayed by the above-mentioned operations.